Just so you know, this is gonna be a very long fic and it's kind of hard to show the second fight when the first one isn't even over yet! We've still got Anbu, Kin and Sayona to go through here, which makes for three or four chapters, so stick around, give me ideas, and please stop pushing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original YYH characters, nor do I own Sayona or Ki-Rokey, or Sad for that matter. However, I own Misato, Luna, Kin, Anbu and all their attacks, special powers, and attitude problems.

The Tomuraigassen Tournament

Chapter 7: The Mysterious Psychic's Questions

Ki-Rokey stared at the screen a moment, disbelieving. "He…He killed him…" she whispered in shock. "Rai…He's…gone…"

Sayona glared at the screen as it changed again, from listing their defeat into the records to the redhead sitting at the opposite end of the ring, nursing his many wounds with some kind of herbal remedy.

"Rai…" she growled, clutching her fists together in front of her. Glowing blue eyes glared towards the ring. "I don't forgive the deaths of my teammates! I'll blow him…"

"No."

Sayona was cut off by the sound of a book snapping shut. She spun around to face Anbu, who was on her feet and calmly brushing herself off. She handed her book to Kin, who was staring at her in shock, then turned back to the team leader.

"I'll be taking this fight." she said calmly, brushing her bangs back as an odd kind of glow crossed into her eyes.

Sayona raised her eyebrows. "Well, this is a surprise…" she muttered, turning full around. "Why the sudden decision, Anbu? You usually don't fight unless there's a reason."

The younger girl cast her eyes down with a thoughtful smile. "I suppose he's just caught my interest, that's all." she whispered almost flirtingly.

Sayona's eyebrow raised even further, but she retreated back to lean against the wall with a shrug. "Fine then." she sighed. "But don't let your guard down…"

"When do I ever?" Anbu muttered, the climbed into the ring for her match.

~ * ~ * ~

"Hey Kurama…" Yusuke called up. His red-haired teammate looked back a moment. "You sure you don't want one of us to take over for you? I'll jump in there, if you like…"

"No need." Kurama smiled, pulling himself back to his feet. "I can last another round."

"Stop being stubborn, fox." Hiei snapped. "You're hurt, that's obvious, now get down here."

"Just one more round." Kurama's eyes had the look of someone who is enjoying something painful just way too much. "I don't die that easily."

"Your human form will die simply enough if you push it too much." Hiei growled.

Kurama gave a quiet half-grin. "Why Hiei, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were worried about me."

The small half-koorime gave an annoyed hn and turned away, mumbling something about baka kitsunes as his cheeks turned an almost unnoticeable shade of pink. Kurama smiled bit wider, then turned back to the ring.

"Alright then!" Sad shouted, pulling out a pair of teal sunglasses and slid them on. "The next match of the Tomuraigassen Tournament, Kurama vs. Anbu Jintai, begin!"

The two fighters disappeared into the trees, moving almost equally in grace and demeanor. The Urameshi Team watched their friend in apprehension, except for Luna, who had the same calm, almost unemotional expression as Sayona, on the other side. Kin and Ki-Rokey were both confident of their teammate's abilities, but looked nervous at the same time.

In the stands, Botan suddenly jumped to her feet. "That's it, I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed.

"What do you mean, Botan-san?" Yukina asked, then gasped in surprise as the taller girl pulled her to her feet.

"We're going down there." she insisted, then pulled Keiko up with the other hand. "The boys need more support than we can give them up here."

Shizuru nodded, climbing to her feet. "Okay then. Let's go."

"As you can see, the competitors have almost reached each other in the center of the field!" Sad announced slowly. "Yet neither one has moved in for an attack. What are they thinking down there?"

Kurama appeared in the middle-clearing Kuwabara had made in the first match, only to find Anbu already standing there. She stepped forward a few paces, looking so calm it was frightening.

Anbu reached behind her as well, pulling out a long, slender staff that had been in a thin sheaf over her right shoulder. A quick glance from Kurama deduced it to be made of oak, most likely from a sacred tree grown near a shrine or holy spring, but it had also been fortified by a potion that channeled her own spirit energy through it. He could practically see the weapon's aura.

He grabbed his rose, snapping it out into the Whip. He couldn't afford any games now, not in this match. Anbu raised her staff as though in defense as the spiky, green vine cracked towards her.

Before it even hit her, the attack stopped and veered off-course. Even Kurama couldn't tell why, all of a sudden his whip just went slack, it was as though it'd hit an unbreakable wall. It hadn't even hit the staff.

"Kurama's attack has been deflected!" Sad exclaimed into the mic. Even behind the sunglasses you could see that annoying gleam. "It looks like he's hit a…a…I dunno, a jar or something, around Anbu!"

"It's a force-field, of course." Anbu sighed, holding her staff in both hands. "And don't get any ideas about breaking it. This 'barrier' is simply a concentration of my spirit energy, manipulated by my telekinesis."

"Telekinesis…?" Kurama breathed, genuinely surprised. Hiei, who'd felt it as well, raised an eyebrow. Luna's ears twitched curiously.

Misato glanced at her partner, worry crossing her into her crystal blue eyes. "Luna…Hiei-san…" she said quietly. "Is something wrong?"

"It's impossible…" Hiei muttered.

"This girl is obviously a demon." Luna muttered. "But Telekinetic abilities… 'psychic powers' as they're more often referred to…can only exist in a human's mind."

"Why's that?" Kuwabara asked, as he and Yusuke turned to look onto the conversation.

"Demon brainwaves have too low a frequency." Luna explained. "Telekinesis is, technically, a small concentration of high-frequency brain waves, taking a semi-solid form. It's impossible for a purely demon mind to hold such frequencies."

"So to be able to use that kind of power…" Yusuke began to come to realization. "She'd have to be…"

"Half…human." Kurama nodded in realization. "You're only a half-demon, aren't you?"

Anbu made a bit of a huffing noise, narrowing her multi-colored eyes. "Yes, I'm a half-demon. Got a problem with it?"

"Not really." Kurama gave a slight smile. "Just a slight bit unexpected."

"Hm…" Anbu glanced her opponent over a minute. Then her staff started to ease down, until one end of it was stuck into the ground, secure enough to lean on. "Before we go any further, there's something I want to ask you."

"Ask…?"

"Why…" the half-demon leaned forward. "Would you want to stay the way you are?"

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"What in the world is going on here?!" Sad exclaimed, sounding a bit mad. "It looks like they're just talking!! Come on, you two, this is a fight so start fighting!!"

Anbu closed her eyes, blocking out the shouts and focusing her mind. "I know what you are, Kurama. A demon…kitsune, more accurately…in a human form." she paused a moment, letting the fox nod in agreement and wonder where this was going. "But, obviously, you've had the chance to change back to being a full demon…and you haven't taken it."

She flipped a rock out of the dirt with her staff, letting it hit a tree several feet away. Then she continued. "Why, though? Why would anybody actually want to stay partially human? Partially…weak?"

Kurama's brow knitted together in thought. There was something wrong with this girl, he could tell, there was something she wasn't saying. "Being human is not always weakness." he muttered, hesitant to reply. "It has proven a strength to me many times."

"I didn't see any strength from it when you got hurt." Anbu's voice was disbelieving. "A fully demon body would barely have bled from that wound Ki-Rokey gave you, and probably would be almost healed from Rai's burns."

Kurama eyed the girl wearily. Anbu shifted her weight, pushing back off her staff to stand on her own. She moved a few steps to the side, tapping her pole against the ground.

"Let me guess." she muttered, voice rising into a mocking tone. "You decided to stick around because some…human…was so kind to you during the years you just couldn't bare to leave."

The fox-demon blinked at the shorter half-psychic, wondering. Anbu laughed. "I didn't need telekinesis to know that. It's written on your face, clear as day."

She tapped the staff against the ground. "I see how it goes. One human does you a favor and you go soft. You completely ignore what they would do if they ever found out who you really are."

"…What are you talking about?" Kurama asked, hand reaching for his seed again.

"If that…human…Ever found out you really were a demon, they'd do exactly what they did to me." Anbu's voice grew low, angry. "They'd disown you, cast you out, forget you completely. All because of something you couldn't help."

Kurama took a step back, hand raising to his forehead. Telekinesis and anger never worked out well. Those with the powers under control usually knew how to hide their emotions, but if they got strong enough they could turn into a destructive, disturbing wave-length that, if strong enough, could destroy this whole stadium and the minds everyone in it. Luckily, she wouldn't let it get that strong, but unluckily for Kurama, it had already penetrated his mind and was sending slight convulsions up and down his body, making it hard to stay on his feet.

Anbu glanced over at him, anger already starting to subside. Then she grinned and he realized what she'd done. She'd made herself angry, just so she'd let out this wavelength. The whole time he hadn't realized it, and now he tried desperately to re-align his thoughts before…

With a swift thwap, the staff connected with the side of Kurama's head, knocking the red-haired fighter to the ground. He bit his lip against the pain when he landed on his right shoulder.

Anbu locked her bi-colored eyes right on Kurama's forest green ones. The fox demon tried to move his arm to hoist himself up, but a sudden shock slipped through his body.

All at once, every joint in his arm froze up. He stiffened, then tried his leg. Once again the joints locked, keeping the boy from moving at all. He couldn't even take his eyes off hers. The purple and blue seamed to swirl together, faster and faster until he could hardly tell the difference between the two.

"Finally, some action, people! Kurama is on the ground, and he isn't moving!" Sad announced. "Has he been knocked unconscious by Anbu's blow? Or perhaps it was strong enough to break his neck? As he doesn't look quite dead yet, I'll begin the count! One…Two…Three…"

"Get up, Kurama!" Kuwabara shouted.

"What's wrong with him?!" Misato yelled. "Come on, don't lose now!"

"Fox…" Hiei muttered, glaring at the screen. From this angle Kurama's hair covered his face, he couldn't tell if the other demon was in pain or even breathing.

"Four…Five…Six…"

Kurama fought hard, trying desperately to stand back up. But his body refused to answer, it wouldn't obey his every screaming order to stand and attack. He was completely helpless.

"Seven…Eight…"

Anbu stood over her opponent, swirling eyes beginning to slow as the count drew to an end. "I don't kill." she said point-blank. "And I don't like fighting a weakened enemy. I want my opponent to be at full strength."

"Nine…TEN!" Sad shouted. "And by, knock-out, Anbu is the winner!"

Anbu pulled her eyes off Kurama's. The kitsune practically heard the pop as the mind link was broken, but his joints took several minutes to un-do themselves and hinge back into place.

After two minutes he was back enough to undo his tightly-curled hands and let out a soft groan. Yusuke and Kuwabara, who had climbed into the ring, thinking he was unconscious and needed to be pulled to safety, leapt back in surprise. Kurama sat up, groaning again and rubbing the temples of his aching head.

"Kur…Kurama!" Kuwabara gasped.

"You're okay!" Yusuke exclaimed, hoisting the nearly-comatose kitsune to his feet, arm draped over the human's shoulders. "Man, you scared us to death! I thought you were a goner!"

"Nearly was…" Kurama muttered as the two helped him out of the ring.

"Don't worry 'bout it. You took two of 'em done, and Hiei's all riled up for the next fight…"

"I don't think so, Urameshi." Anbu interrupted him. She had turned to leave for her second part of the match, then turned when she heard Yusuke's voice. "I'm not interested in fighting the little demon. I want to fight you."

"Me?" Yusuke raised an eyebrow.

"Hold it, Urameshi." Kuwabara snapped. "Why should we listen to her? Let the shrimp take care of it."

Yusuke eyed Anbu a moment, looking her over. For a moment he paused at her two-toned eyes, then gave a bit of a grin. "Sure. Why not?"

Anbu smiled. "Good. I look forward to it."

With that, she turned and disappeared into the trees.

My, isn't this interesting? The score's 2-2, and Yusuke's taking on Anbu Jintai in the next match. Between demon energy and psychic ablities, wonder what she's got in store for Yusuke now…Ch. 8 will be up ASAP!!